Dentists’ involvement in oral health promotion and prevention in their daily practice

Abstract

Oral diseases like caries and periodontal disease are highly preventable and the involvement of dental practitioners in preventive and educational measures in their daily practice play an important role. Aim: assessment of Romanian dental practitioners’ interest and involvement in oral health promotion and dental prevention in their daily practice. Material and method: a cross-sectional pilot study was conducted in 2021 on a sample of 66 dentists, with a mean age of 37.59 ± 9.66 years, using an on-line self-assessment questionnaire. Results: 62.12% of dentists declared they include oral health promotion and prevention to a very large extent in their daily practice, 93.94% assessing and counselling their patients at the first appointment regarding risk factors. However, only oral hygiene is monitored during the dental treatment and less during the maintenance phase, while eating habits and smoking are seldom approached by the dentists. Professional dental cleaning based on regular notification of the patients is performed by 89.39% of dentists. Conclusion: Most of the dentists declare a high interest in integrating oral health promotion and prevention in daily practice, but focus mostly in the control of dental plaque.